Schinus terebinthifolius Raddi: estudo de revisão e análise do potencial cicatrizante do extrato hidroalcoólico em lesão na mucosa oral de ratos

Abstract

As part of several inflammatory diseases, the recurrent aphtous ulceration stands out, which presents itself as lesions inside the oral cavity, being treated with topical corticosteroids, analgesic, and local antibiotics. The development of new treatments for such lesions, presenting less side effects and better costly ratio than the traditional allopathic approach is of paramount importance. The plant species Schinus terebinthifolius (Anacardiaceae), also known in Brazil as aroeira, has demonstrated a wide range of biological activities, being described among those, remarkable healing and anti-inflammatory properties. This assay was aimed to review the literature concerning S. terebinthifolius, describe and predict the biological effects from the peel of Aroeira stem’s hidro alcoholic extract chemical components, and thus, evaluating its healing effects on the oral injuries of rats. On this literature review, data about the ethnomedicinal, phytochemical and pharmacological profile aspects are reported. The research was carried out in Science Direct, PubMed and Scielo databases, using the descriptors Schinus terebinthifolius, plant morphology, ecology, medicinal plant, traditional medicine, chemical composition and pharmacological activity. Of the total of 963 articles found, 64 composed the review. This plant species has been widely used on traditional medicine as anti inflammatory, healing and for treatment of ulcers and infections. Its phytochemical profile has been proved to be composed specially by flavonoids and essencial oils. In vivo several assays have confirmed promising pharmacological properties, such as anti inflammatory, antimicrobial and antioxidant effects. It has been pointed out the need of studies which aim two main streams: the ethnomedicinal characteristics and the S. terebinthifolius bioprospecting. For the assay on the healing effects evaluation of the Aroeira stem peel hydro alcoholic extract, the plant samples were collected at município de Chapadinha, estado do Maranhão, Brazil (3°42'44"S; 43°30'40"W), then these samples went through taxonomic classification, chemical analysis through HPLC-MS and in silico analysis of some chemical components. Following this, the in vivo stage was initiated, which used 41 rats, randomly distributed under 3 groups: G1 (saline solution 0,9%), G2 (chlorhexidine gluconate 0,12%), and G3 (S. terebinthifolius hydro alcoholic extract 2%); subsequently, these groups were rearranged according to the treatment duration (3, 7 and 14 days). All of the subjects were submitted to the same surgical procedure: a standardized provoked injury on their oral mucosa and treated topically, orally, every 24h. The evaluated parameters were as follows: macroscopic and microscopic changes (histopathological analysis). 14 chemical components were identified, of which, Vicenin 1 and astaxanthin were studied in silico. The results revealed that Vicenin 1 presents > 30% (Pa> 0,3) probability to have 224 activities, being 15 of those of healing and/or anti inflammatory effect. On the other hand, Astaxanthin revealed 259 properties, so that 20 of those were healing and /or anti inflammatory. The in vivo step showed that at 14 days, the mean lesion area (mm2) was 1.5 ± 1.4 for G1, 1.3 ± 1.02 for G2 and 0.9 ± 0.85 for G3, as well as the mean of the degree of contraction presented values of 98.6% for G1, 98.4% for G2 and 98.9% for G3, suggesting that in this period the repair of the lesion was already reestablished. As for the histological analysis, it was possible to evidence the following relationship, regarding the wound healing process in the oral mucosa of rats addressed in this study, G3 > G2 > G1. The results showed that aroeira is a promising plant species for the treatment of oral lesions. The hydroalcoholic extract of aroeira favored the wound healing process in the oral mucosa of rats, although no statistical differences were found between the experimental groups.